Progress to 241 Voucher?

[TerryTierPoints]

Has this disappeared from the iOS AMEX
app? I’m sure it used to be in the Membership tab?

[NorthernLass]

The Amex trackers do come and go, although when the £15k spend tracker disappeared on my gold card it never actually came back! All the rest reappeared in time though.

[WaynedP]

This has been missing from my own iPhone app for several consecutive days at a crucial time for triggering our companion voucher for the year (but has still been there when logging in on a laptop).

Still haven’t had my reassuring “You have triggered your Companion Voucher” message, so checked in with Amex Chat this morning.

Agent apologised that “the tool” was taking a long time to provide the info he/she needed to get back to me, which indicates to me a little gremlin in Amex’s IT system at the moment.

Agent eventually came back to report Amex shows I spent £9,999.96 so 4p short of triggering the Companion Voucher, but did acknowledge that didn’t include the £6-odd shown as spent the day before the card anniversary deadline which would have triggered the voucher if it hadn’t hung around in Pending for 2 business days.

Interestingly, the £9,999.96 shows as £10,000.00 on the voucher tracker when I logged into desktop version, and I do also have a time-stamped screenshot of that. Seems a basic programming error to make.

Agent sent query to back office and advised 5-7 day resolution time frame and I’m not concerned as I can’t possibly see how this won’t be satisfactorily resolved in my favour.

Might even work in my favour if it extends the 2-year validity of the Companion Voucher by a few days more than expected.

[NorthernLass]

I’ve always had the 241 appear in my BA account within a few days of the £10k spend being hit, regardless of what it says on my Amex account. Sometimes the “you have triggered” message appears after the voucher has landed!

[WaynedP]

Yes, have also been checking BAEC regularly, but nothing showing there yet.

I suspect voucher was never triggered by Amex (due to being 4p short regardless of confusing rounding display error on desktop tracker) but will be rectified shortly once £6 spend that was still hanging around in Pending at the trigger deadline is correctly taken into account.

[AJA]

@WaynedP Wow that is cutting it fine. I think you should be OK as you spent the required amount before the deadline. As for receiving the voucher the T&Cs only require you to have spent the required amount within 12 months of the anniversary. Nowhere does it say that the spend must be posted to your Amex account by the anniversary date.

On Amex’s website for the BAPP all it says is

Get a Companion Voucher when you spend £10,000 each membership year on the Card

https://www.americanexpress.com/uk/credit-cards/ba-premium-plus-credit-card/

it then refers you to BA’s website for full terms and conditions

https://www.britishairways.com/en-gb/executive-club/offers/terms-and-conditions/amex-companion

This only says the following:

3. To be entitled to receive a Companion Voucher the Cardmember must have reached their required spend target within a 12 month period ending each year on the anniversary of their Card Account start date (e.g. if a Cardmember opens a Card Account on 1 September 2021 then they must have reached their spend target by 31 August 2022 so that they can begin earning towards their next Voucher on 1 September 2022). Anniversary date details can be found on the Card Account statements, or online by logging in at americanexpress.co.uk or by calling the number on the back of the Card. The spend target varies depending on which British Airways American Express Card the Member has:

[NorthernLass]

Things posting twice again!

[NorthernLass]

IME Amex vouchers and bonuses etc only ever post once the qualifying spend has cleared, which can take 2/3 days if there’s a weekend or bank holiday – which is why advice given on this site is always to make sure you make any crucial spend well before the deadline. I can see Amex trying to argue here that as the £6 hadn’t cleared before the anniversary date, you haven’t qualified for the voucher (I don’t agree but that’s the kind of nonsense Amex CS seems to spout more and more these days!) I hope you don’t have too many issues getting this rectified but Amex may well dig in their heels and claim that reaching the spend target means that the qualifying spend must have cleared by the anniversary date, not just been made.

I keep track of my spending by checking my monthly statement balances if the tracker isn’t showing (like for my £15k gold spend) and keeping a running total, though with the BAPP we usually trigger our voucher in the first 6 months of the card year so it’s safely in the BAEC account well before the end of the card year.

[WaynedP]

Thanks @AJA, I have several screenshots of the tracker clearly showing the spend deadline was 18 October, and when the £6 spent on 17 October is accurately accounted for, I have comfortably met the requirements for triggering the voucher.

I did push it right to the wire this year to maximise my redemption options in what I calculate will be BA off-peak period in October 2024.

Am not concerned I’m sure it will be sorted out fine in due course, as indicated by your helpful quoting of the T&Cs, thanks.

[AJA]

Good luck. I keep an Excel spreadsheet of my spend so can track it myself. I also make sure I spend the required amount at least 1 month before the deadline although I have already hit this year’s spend a mere 6 months into the year. It doesn’t bother me so much though as I am retired and so dont need to spend the voucher at specific times of the year. Also we are now spending on my OHs card to get a second voucher. It helps that we have a 6 month difference in our Amex anniversaries.

[WaynedP]

Thanks, Anna, but even Amex Chat agent acknowledged absurdity of potentially missing key benefit of the card for the sake of 4p (incorrectly shown on desktop tracker, to boot) and said not to worry.

As @AJA points out, it’s “spend” not “reflected on the app” that’s the crux of the T&Cs, and if I hadn’t incurred actual spend of £6 one day before spend deadline, Co-op would not have allowed me to trot off happily clutching my Meal Deal and Bake-Off viewing treats.

[NorthernLass]

I know, I know! But what I’m thinking is this – Amex’s system “thinks” you haven’t completed the £10k spend in time so it hasn’t issued the 241 and sent it over to BA. So to actually get it, someone at Amex is going to have to perform some kind of intervention to generate a 241 and get it into your BAEC account. It’s all very well telling you it’s absurd and not to worry, but can they actually perform the function required to solve your problem? Currently they can’t even issue 241s correctly if you’ve upgraded from the free card to BAPP and even put it in their Ts and Cs that they can’t do anything about it and you’ll have to ask BA to do it!

[WaynedP]

Well, I am not going to worry at this point about any deficient IT systems that might hinder Amex from doing the objectively correct thing here.

That’s their problem to solve or face the full force of consumer protection legislation we still have on our statutes.

I would be more worried right now as a HfP follower about a self-avowed regulation rip-up fanatic remaining (incredibly and inexplicably) in post long enough to do serious damage by reversing the UK261/2004 protections that many rely on to face down egregiously inimical behaviour by some airlines against their customers.

[WaynedP]

UPDATE: Companion Voucher came through this morning, confirmed on both Amex and BAEC account.

That’s pretty impressive turnaround time of 26 hours after raising the matter as a query on Amex Chat.

[JDB]

WaynedP wrote:

I would be more worried right now as a HfP follower about a self-avowed regulation rip-up fanatic remaining (incredibly and inexplicably) in post long enough to do serious damage by reversing the UK261/2004 protections that many rely on to face down egregiously inimical behaviour by some airlines against their customers.

I think the pressure change to EC261 will come from Europe, not the UK (save in respect of domestic flights). The Regulation is now very messy, unclear and outdated, and having been legislated before LCCs really hit the scene the compensation sums are ridiculous. Also, there are now so many ECJ rulings that have created new ‘rules’ rather than simply interpreting the legislation [extraordinary judicial overreach as identified by Lord Sumption former President of the Supreme Court – a fantastic read or listen, even if the subject may seem dry]. LH and AF/KL (and of course FR) are pressing hard so France and Germany on side.

PS glad you got your voucher sorted. Having read your many considered posts I was surprised you ran it so close to the wire!